Unifeeder launches carbon neutral towage on River Thames

DP World-owned Unifeeder has deployed a carbon neutral towage service on London’s River Thames.

To develop the EcoTow service, towage operator Svitzer converted its whole fleet of 10 towage tugs from marine fuel to sustainable Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO). This reduces towage CO2 emissions by 90%.

Unifeeder will initially develop this service from Svitzer in London for all vessels which require towage services on the River Thames.

“This is a great example of what can be achieved using new fuel technology and we are proud to be deploying this innovative service to reduce carbon emissions,” said Michael Bonde, Chief Operations Officer for Network & Operations at Unifeeder.

“Using Svitzer’s EcoTow service complements our environmental initiatives across Europe, such as our investment in more efficient rail and barge inland services, as well as our ongoing sustainability ambitions at our European terminals.”

The new product exclusively uses sustainable second-generation biofuels, which are fuels made from waste material such as used in cooking oil as feedstocks and are certified.

These biofuels reduce carbon emissions by 100% on a tank-to-wake basis and approximately 90% on a well-to-tank basis.

This announcement follows the launch of Unifeeder’s Actual Emission Tracker, a tool that allows users to calculate greenhouse gas emissions at the specific TEU level, providing companies with further insight into the carbon impact of their operations.

In June 2020, DP World completed the integration of Unifeeder and Feedertech in a bid to expand its operations and improve its global supply chain.

The terminal operator went on to say that it had “created a feedering and shortsea network serving hundred of ports across the globe”.

https://www.porttechnology.org/news/unifeeder-deploys-a-carbon-neutral-towage-service-on-the-river-thames/